The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has released 34 more persons, this time from the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, as part of its efforts to declog the country’s penal facilities.
BuCor Director Benjamin De Los Santos said 29 were released on parole while the other five had served their maximum sentences.
“We have provided them with transportation money for their homecoming,” De Los Santos said in a text message.
BuCor is currently implementing a priority program of reducing backlog in records management. A task force has been created to expedite the processing of the records of inmates.
A total of 398 convicts from seven penal facilities under BuCor have been released
The release of the inmates has been approved by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre and President Rodrigo Duterte.
Aside from the Leyte Prison and Penal Farm, the prison facilities also under BuCor are the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Sabisyan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City, Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte and Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Panabo Davao. IDL/rga